文 | 魏剑峰
From 英文悦读
标点符号似乎每个人都认识,都会用,但在实际写作中我们还是可以经常见到不少误用标点符号的例子。
今天我在这里总结一下英文写作中常见的标点符号问题,以供各位参考。
在列举各个标点符号的常见问题之前,这里先说一个经常会被忽略的格式问题(尤其是在手机和电脑上的英文写作):空格。
在英语书写格式中,标点符号后面至少要留一个半角空格。比如对于逗号,在逗号后面要留有一个字符长度的空格。比较下面两个句子:
(1)They would have married sooner, but they had to wait for her divorce.
(2)They would have married sooner,but they had to wait for her divorce.
第二个句子不符合英语书写规范,因为逗号后面没有一个字符的空格。事实上,如果你经常使用Word写文章,应该会留意到上面的错误提示:
除了逗号之外,句号、分号以及问号等也要遵守标点符号空格的原则。比如,下面这样的句子也不符合规范:
Neither of them thought of turning on the lunch-time news.Thus Caroline didn't hear of John's death until Peter telephoned.
要改为:
Neither of them thought of turning on the lunch-time news. Thus Caroline didn't hear of John's death until Peter telephoned.
如果你不清楚应该怎么加空格,可以在Word文档上打几行字,观察Word给出的修改建议。
接下来是一些常见的标点符号问题:
1.逗号
在句子并列结构的最后成分前往往会使用连词 and, or, but 等,在这些连词前加不加逗号会对句子意思造成影响,举个例子:
(1) You should buy some pens, red bags and notebooks.
(2) You should buy some pens, red bags, and notebooks.
两个句子的表意有所不同,第二个句子 red 只修饰 bags,但第一个句子 red 可以解读为修饰 bags 以及 notebooks,因此为了避免歧义,要学会正确使用逗号。
还有另外一个例子:
(1) All the books which had pictures in them were sent to the library.
(2) All the books, which had pictures in them, were sent to the library.
在非限制性定语从句中逗号会对句子的意思造成影响。这里第一个句子的意思是“所有带插图的图书都被送到了图书馆”,第二个句子的意思是“所有的图书都被送到了图书馆,这些图书都带有插图”。在使用非限制性定语从句时要注意逗号的使用。
英文中两个完整的句子或者两个并列分句之间一般不能用逗号隔开,这一点在平时写作中很多人都能注意到,但当遇到 however,thus 这类词时,有时候很容易犯错。比如:
(1) This is a cheap and simple process, however, there are dangers.
(2) Most of the evidence was destroyed in the fire, thus it would be almost impossible to prove him guilty.
第一个句子中当 however 表示转折含义时它是副词,不能当连词用,因此逗号应该改为分号或者句号。即:
This is a cheap and simple process; however, there are dangers. / This is a cheap and simple process. However, there are dangers.
第二个句子中 thus 是副词,同样不能当连词用,因此句子要改成:
Most of the evidence was destroyed in the fire. Thus it would be almost impossible to prove him guilty. / Most of the evidence was destroyed in the fire; thus it would be almost impossible to prove him guilty.
此外,在日期写法中的逗号使用也要注意规范。如果日期格式是 month day, year 则中间需要加逗号(例如 April 21, 2017),如果是 day month year 则不需要加逗号(例如 21 April 2017)。值得注意的一点是 month day, year 这种日期写法全世界只有美国一家有,互联网上甚至还有不少文章在讨论为什么美国人会使用这么奇怪的日期格式:
2.书名号
汉语中书名号《》可以用来标明书名、文章名、报刊名等等,但英文中没有汉语书名号的写法。在英文中,标明书籍、报刊、戏剧、电影、绘画作品等名称时, 通常采用斜体、下划线、引号、黑体或黑体基础上的下划线。比如
In his remarkable new book, Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future, Peter Thiel comes off as a brilliant young man with a tendency toward exaggeration.
在英文写作中要避免出现汉语书名号,诸如《The Economist》,《All the Light We Cannot See》这样的写法都是错误的。
3.破折号,连接号,连字符
英语中也有和汉语类似的“破折号”,我们称为 Em dash(—),它的长度等于大写字母M,主要用于将特定的概念从一个句子的主要从句中分离出来,或者分隔一个插入的想法或从句,比如:
But such shortcomings—and South Africa’s failings since his retirement from active politics—pale into insignificance when set against the magnitude of his overall achievement.
除了破折号Em dash 之外,还有连接号En dash (–),它的长度等于大写字母N,是 Em dash 的一半,主要用于连接数字表示起止范围(比如1:00–2:00 p.m.),以及表示两者之间的关系和联系(比如 Boston–Hartford route)。
此外,还有连字号Hyphen (-),它主要用于行末单词换行以及连接复合词的各个组成部分(比如 20-year-old son)。
关于破折号,连接号,连字符这三者更加详细的说明可以参加维基百科上的词条:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash
4.省略号
英语和汉语中的省略号在书写上不同,汉语省略号一般为六点,且位置在中间(……),英语省略号只有三点,且位置在下边,即( ... ),在写英文时记得不要混淆,类似这样的用法:
Resilient Ireland, booming South Sudan, tumultuous Turkey: our country of the year is……
要改为:
Resilient Ireland, booming South Sudan, tumultuous Turkey: our country of the year is...
5.缩略符
在考场作文以及学术论文写作中要避免使用缩略符的表达法,即 What's more,I'll 这类缩写要还原为完整形式( a manager's job 这类所有格形式除外)。类似下面这样的句子:
People who can't afford to go to the theatre or concerts can afford to go to football matches.
要改为:
People who cannot afford to go to the theatre or concerts can afford to go to football matches.
除此之外,再补充几点英文标点符号使用的小知识。
(1) Oxford comma
“牛津逗号”(Oxford comma/serial comma/Harvard comma)是指在几个并列结构中最后一个结构前的逗号。维基百科对此的定义是:
In English language punctuation, a serial comma, or series comma (also called an Oxford comma or Harvard comma), is a comma placed immediately after the penultimate term in a series of three or more terms.
举个例子:Please bring me a pencil, eraser, and notebook. 这个句子中eraser后面的逗号即为牛津逗号。如果不使用牛津逗号,句子则变成:Please bring me a pencil, eraser and notebook.
目前人们关于牛津逗号的使用并没有达成统一意见,比如美式英语中牛津逗号的使用非常广泛,很多美式英语写作指南(比如The Elements of Style)也规定要使用牛津逗号。而英式英语中没有强制规定一定要使用牛津逗号,著名的《经济学人写作指南》(The Economist Style Guide)也提到大部分英国作家只有在需要避免歧义的情况下才使用牛津逗号。
在一些情况下,使用牛津逗号能够消除句子中的歧义,举个例子:
I love my parents, Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty.
这一句子有两种解读方式,第一种将我的父母,Lady Gaga和Humpty Dumpty视为并列的三者。第二种则将Lady Gaga和Humpty Dumpty解读为我父母的名字,即:我爱我的父母,他们是Lady Gaga和Humpty Dumpty。
使用牛津逗号后,句子变成:
I love my parents, Lady Gaga, and Humpty Dumpty.
此时句子就只剩一种解读,即将我的父母,Lady Gaga和Humpty Dumpty视为并列的三者。
不过也有反对牛津逗号的人指出,要消除歧义并不一定要用牛津逗号,更好的方法是改写句子,比如上面句子可以改成:
I love Lady Gaga, Humpty Dumpty and my parents.
这样也能消除歧义。
(2)分号
分号(semicolon)在地道英文中的使用很广泛,但在中国学生的习作中很少见到有同学能够主动用好它。
分号用来表示分句之间的停顿,其表示的停顿强于逗号,但弱于句号。分号最常见的用法是分隔地位平等且联系紧密的两个句子,比如:
(1) My wife would like tea; I would prefer coffee.
(2) I went to the basketball court; I was told it was closed for cleaning.
同时,在however/therefore/thus/hence/meanwhile等词的前面要用分号连接,或者前面用句号,然后另起一句。很多同学写作文时经常在however前面使用逗号,比如:
Some of the food crops failed, however, the cotton did quite well.
这种写法是错误的,因为however在这里不能当连词使用,应该写成:
Some of the food crops failed; however, the cotton did quite well. / Some of the food crops failed. However, the cotton did quite well.
韦氏词典中也有这样的例句:I'd like to go; however, I'd better not. [=I'd like to go, but I should not]
此外,当句子中并列项太多时,如果仅用逗号来分隔可能会有歧义,这个时候可以使用分号,比如:
The people present were Jamie, a man from New Zealand; John, the milkman's son; and George, a gaunt kind of man with no friends.
(3)冒号
冒号(colon)也是很多同学不太熟悉的一个标点符号,它主要的用法有列举、连接意思紧密的分句或者强调等。
1. 列举
在对并列项目进行列举时,我们可以使用冒号来引入列举项,例如:
The bookstore specializes in three subjects: art, architecture, and graphic design.
需要注意的是,英文冒号需要用在一个完整的句子后面,也就是说,句子的主语和谓语之间、谓语和宾语之间、介词和宾语之间、系动词和表语之间都不能使用冒号。举个例子:
(1) The bookstore specializes in: art, architecture, and graphic design.
(2) When I graduate, I want to go to: Rome, Israel, and Egypt.
上面两个句子的冒号使用都出现了错误,因为冒号前面的部分"The bookstore specializes in", "When I graduate, I want to go to" 都不是完整的句子,此时冒号将句子的谓语和宾语分开了。正确的写法应该是:
(1) The bookstore specializes in art, architecture, and graphic design. / The bookstore specializes in three subjects: art, architecture, and graphic design.
(2) When I graduate, I want to go to Rome, Israel, and Egypt.
2. 连接意思紧密的分句
同分号一样,冒号也可以连接两个分句,此时第二个句子通常是对第一个句子进行解释。比如:
A dolphin is not fish: it is a warm-blooded mammal.
值得注意的一点是,冒号后面的句子首字母不需要大写,但如果冒号后面跟着两个或两个以上的句子,则句子首字母要大写,比如:
He made three points: First, the company was losing over a million dollars each month. Second, the stock price was lower than it had ever been. Third, no banks were willing to loan the company any more money.
3. 强调
冒号在句子中也可以起到强调的作用,此时它的作用跟破折号(em dash)类似,比如:
After three weeks of deliberation, the jury finally reached a verdict: guilty.
以上是英语标点符号使用的几点注意事项,关于英文标点符号的更多使用规范,也可以访问这个网站:
https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/index.html
网站对常见英文标点符号进行了详细说明,同时还有大量例句可供参考,对标点符号用法有疑惑的同学推荐去看一看。
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_(punctuation)
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semicolon
[4] https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/colon.html
本文系授权发布,By 魏剑峰,From 英文悦读,微信号:read_the_economist。欢迎朋友圈,未经许可不得转载,INSIGHT视界 诚意推荐